14 Jul Ukeireru: This Japanese Mindset May Be Key To Your Happiness
via Forbes by Akiko Katayama
“How can I be happy?” We all want to know the answer and pursue it for life. For example, 2.8 million people have enrolled in Yale University’s popular online course “The Science of Well-Being”, which is designed to increase your happiness(I personally found it very valuable).
Clinical psychologist Scott Haas discovered a refreshingly simple and effective way to attain happiness through his intimate experience with Japanese culture over years. (Haas began visiting Japan in 2003 and now works in the country three to four times a year.) And you don’t have to be Japanese to practice it.
He introduces the idea in his new book Why Be Happy?, which came out on July 7.
According to Haas, ukeireru, or acceptance, is key to happiness. “Ukeireru means much more than self-acceptance. It means acceptance of our relationships in our families, in school, at work and in our communities. It means accepting others,” he says.
Living in a society like the U.S. where individualism is celebrated makes it hard to accept anything outside ourselves unconditionally. But ukeireru does not mean subservience or giving in.
Once you accept what surrounds you as it is, you have room to calmly observe and notice that you are only a part of the society and not that important. As are result, you can more easily understand other points of view and you won’t simply react to a person or an event that you are upset about. And you won’t be so stressed out all the time.
Haas elucidates this idea of ukeireru with many intriguing examples. For instance…
… keep reading the full & original article HERE
#happiness #happy #acceptance #psychology #positivepsychology #ukeireru